Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Big updates in these parts!
The Mayor's Office announced yesterday that the rezoning hearing on the park and Penn Plaza would be postponed until Tuesday, March 22 at 1:30 PM in order to allow the community planning process to move forward without predetermined outcomes. See the full press release here.

This is fantastic news and we really appreciate the Administration's efforts to fully engage the community in this important planning process.

Thank you to everyone who helped us lobby for this important schedule change.

(and remember to come to the rescheduled hearing as well!)

Community Park Planning Meeting: Tuesday, February 23 at 6 PM
The next big step will be a public meeting on the planning efforts for the proposed redevelopment of the park and Penn Plaza. A core working group of residents, stakeholders, the City, and the developers will be reporting out on the work to date to the community, and soliciting input.

The meeting will be held at East Liberty Place South, 5836 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh 15206. Children are welcome to attend and to participate! We will have activities for them as well.

Save the Date: Tuesday, March 15 at 6 PM, location TBD.
This will be the second of the two community meetings about the park planning efforts. Stay tuned for more details.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

This is why we do what we do. This is our community. This is our future

It’s been a while since there has been an update and apologies for the long silence. There have been a number of conversations
happening and trying to get a handle on how to deal with the park situation.

Public Hearing at City Council on the Rezoning of the Park and Penn Plaza Sites

·There is a public hearing on Tuesday, February 16th at 1:30
PM in City Council chambers (5th Floor, 414 Grant Street aka the
City-County Building, Downtown Pittsburgh). This hearing is for the rezoning
of the park and the Penn Plaza site from residential districts to a mixed-use
commercial district. PLEASE come to make our voices heard at City Council.

The hearing is for Bills Number
2015-2300 and 2016-0033 for Enright Parklet. If you do not sign-up to speak,
you will have one minute of time. If you sign-up, you will have 3 minutes (same
as at Planning Commission)

Unlike Planning Commission, Council
are elected officials. Which means that if large groups of voters show up
demanding that they either deny or table the zone change request, they will be
more likely to listen. Help us buy time for a REAL community process to get under way and bring our neighbors to the table!

Park Planning Workshops and Meetings

·There is a planning process that is beginning to
get under way about what COULD happen for the park and the adjacent property. A
group of neighbors have been meeting with City Planning and
pushing on them to hold a community process. There will be a meeting on Tuesday, February 23rd at 6 PM
to talk about park planning. This meeting will be held at East Liberty Place
South, located at the corner of Penn Avenue and South Beatty Street. PLEASE
come and share this with others. More information to follow. A second meeting will be held on Tuesday, March
15th at 6 PM, so please save the date. Location TBD.

Isn't this all a little backwards? Yes, yes it is...

·Under normal circumstances, the planning would happen BEFORE the properties are rezoned. These are not normal circumstances.

Because this planning process is happening AFTER
the public hearing on the zone change, we are asking that Council TABLE the
decision on the rezoning until the process is complete. If you plan to speak at
Council, please consider including this in your talking points. We don’t need
them to outright deny the zone change, but as a community, we need more time to
work with the City on the planning process, and ensure the best possible outcome for the community that lives here!

There will be additional updates in the next few days as well, so please watch here, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

About Enright Park

Enright Park Neighborhood Association is comprised of homeowners, renters, public housing residents, and landlords who live in close proximity to Enright Parklet in Pittsburgh's East Liberty neighborhood.

In recent years, we have seen a dramatic transformation of our community, which has resulted in the on-going displacement of our friends and neighbors. This displacement has disproportionately impacted people of color, seniors living on fixed incomes, low-income working families, and the many ways in which these groups intersect.

The Enright Park Neighborhood Association was established to advance the joint causes of affordable housing, public open space, and an inclusive approach to planning and development that will build and enhance a livable East Liberty for everyone in our community. We intend to win a better East Liberty for everyone, and to help set a new standard self-determination for our communities.

Please join us, and let us know how we can support and promote your voice too. For membership information, please complete the form here.

For more information, including media, please contact us at enright.park@gmail.com.